Missy Elliott
Missy Elliott (born
Melissa Arnette Elliott on
July 1,
1971) is an
American singer,
rapper,
songwriter, and
record producer. Elliott was originally known as
Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. She dropped the "Misdemeanor" from her stage name in 2003, and now simply goes by "Missy Elliott". Missy Elliot is the second biggest selling female rapper for sales of 17 million total including US, worldwide, and single sales.
Elliott is one of the first female
hip hop artists known for a series of hits including "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)", "Hit 'Em Wit Da Hee", "Get Ur Freak On", "One Minute Man", "
Work It", and "
Lose Control". In addition she has received recognition as one of the most successful songwriters of the modern music era, having crafted a number of hit records for artists such as
Melanie B,
Aaliyah,
702,
Total,
Ciara,
Nicole Wray and
Tweet, often with production-partner and childhood friend
Timbaland. She was the fourth female rapper to ever go
Platinum, behind Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown and Da Brat.
Early years
Elliott was born in
Portsmouth, Virginia. In the late-1980s, Elliott, LaShawn Shellman, Chonita Coleman and Radiah Scott formed an R&B group called
Sista, for which Elliott served as a singer and songwriter. She recruited her neighborhood friend
Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley as the group's
producer and began making demo tracks. In 1991, Sista caught the attention of
Jodeci member/producer
DeVante Swing by performing Jodeci songs acapella for him backstage after one of his group's concerts. In short order, Sista moved to
New York City, now signed to
Elektra Records through DeVante's
Swing Mob imprint. Elliott took along with her Mosley, whom DeVante re-christened
Timbaland, and their friend
Melvin "Magoo" Barcliff.
All 100-plus members of the Swing Mob, among them future stars such as
Ginuwine,
Playa, and
Tweet, lived in a single two-storey house in New York and were often at work on material both for Jodeci and for their own projects. Elliott contributed songwriting duties, both credited and uncredited, to the final two Jodeci albums: 1993's
Diary of a Mad Band and 1995's
The Show, The After Party, The Hotel. Timbaland and DeVante produced a Sista LP,
4 All the Sistas Around the World, which was completed in 1994 but was shelved and never released. By 1995, Swing Mob had folded and many of its members dispersed; Elliott, Timbaland, Magoo, Ginuwine, and Playa remained together, and would collaborate on each others' records for the rest of the decade.
After Swing Mob
After leaving Swing Mob, Elliott and Timbaland began working together as an independent songwriting/production team, and the two of them crafted hit singles for a number of artists between 1995 to 1997. Among these acts were
SWV ("Can We?") and
702 ("Steelo" and its
remix), but the most notable of them was
Aaliyah. Elliott and Timbaland wrote and produced nine tracks for Aaliyah's second album,
One in a Million (1996), among them the hit singles "If Your Girl Only Knew", "One in a Million", "Hot Like Fire", and "4 Page Letter". Elliott also contributed background vocals and/or guest raps to nearly all of the tracks on which she and Timbaland worked.
One in a Million went double-
platinum and made stars out of the production duo. Elliott and Timbaland continued to work together for other artists, later creating hits for artists such as
Total ("What About Us", 1997),
Nicole Wray ("Make It Hot", 1998), and
Destiny's Child ("Get on the Bus", 1998), as well as one final hit for Aaliyah, "I Care 4 U", before her death in 2001.
As a guest rapper, Elliott began her career as a featured vocalist on Gina Thompson's, "The Things You Do" and
MC Lyte's 1996 single "Cold Rock a Party", both of which were produced by
Sean "Puffy" Combs; Combs had hoped to sign Elliott to
Bad Boy Records. She instead signed a deal with
Elektra Records in
1996 to create her own imprint,
The Goldmind Inc., for which she would record as a solo artist. Timbaland was again recruited as her production partner, a role he would hold on most Elliott solo releases.
Supa Dupa Fly and Da Real World
Her debut album, released in mid-1997, was
Supa Dupa Fly, which included "Da Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)", a blockbuster hit that established Missy as a major force in popular music. Other singles included "Beep Me 911," which featured
702,
Timbaland, and
Magoo; "Hit 'Em wit da Hee," featuring rapper Mocha and
Lil' Kim and
Timbaland; and "Sock It 2 Me," a moderate hit which featured rhymes from
Da Brat and a cameo by
Lil' Kim in the
Mega Man-inspired
music video. The critical acceptance of
Supa Dupa Fly was mixed, though generally positive; many critics commented that the album tracks, some of which
sampled Missy / Mosley hits such as "Can We" and "One in a Million", were far inferior to the singles. 1997 also saw Elliott perform on Lil Kim's girl-power anthem, a hit
remix of her song, "Not Tonight". The song's remix also featured Da Brat,
Angie Martinez and
Left Eye, in addition to Lil Kim and Elliott; the five women performed it live at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards show.
In 1998, Elliott continued her successful music career by writing and producing
Total's single "Trippin'", as well as working with several others in the hip-hop and
R&B communities. The same year, Elliott produced and contributed background vocals and some rhymes to former
Spice Girl Melanie B's, debut solo single "I Want You Back", which topped the UK singles chart.
Elliott's second album was just as successful as the first.
Da Real World (1999, see
1999 in music) included the singles "All N My Grill," a collaboration with
Nicole Wray and
Big Boi (from
OutKast), "Hot Boyz [Remix]" and "She's a Bitch".
Miss E...So Addictive
|
Miss E...So Addictive (2001) |
Elliott next released
Miss E... So Addictive in 2001 (see
2001 in music). That album produced the massive pop and urban hits "One Minute Man," featuring
Ludacris and
Trina, and "Get Ur Freak On", as well as the international
club hit "4 My People" and the less commercially-successful single "Take Away," which featured soulful melodies from Ginuwine and a then-unknown Tweet, who was Elliott's most recent protege and labelmate at the time.
For "Get Ur Freak On", an unusual remix was released to radio in addition to the original version of the song. The remix combined scat-singing from
Nelly Furtado with Elliott's original rapping. The remix performed just as successfully as the original and was the version which was heard both in the film
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider that year and on its soundtrack.
The double music video for "Take Away/4 My People" was released in the fall of 2001, shortly after the
9-11 terrorist attacks and the tragic death of Elliott's good friend
Aaliyah. The "Take Away" part of the video, which was its majority, contained images of and words about Aaliyah, and the slow ballad acted as a tribute to her memory. The remainder of the video, the more upbeat "4 My People", contained scenes of people dancing happily in front of American flags and Elliott dressed in red, white and blue. Though "Take Away" flopped at radio, "4 My People" went on to become an
American and
European club hit due to a popular
techno Basement Jaxx remix in 2002.
Tweet's appearance on Elliott's "Take Away" as well as her cameo at Elliott's house on
MTV Cribs helped to create a buzz about the new R&B singer. Tweet's own debut single, "Oops (Oh My)", was co-written by Elliott and released through Goldmind in February
2002. The single was a top ten hit, thanks partially to Elliott's songwriting and guest rap, and to Timbaland's unusual production on the track. Tweet and Elliott's numerous collaborations and public appearances together during this time also began to fuel media rumors that the two were having a secret
lesbian tryst, one of many media rumors about Elliott that she herself would address in her subsequent work.
Under Construction
|
Under Construction (2002) |
Elliott's fourth album, 2002's
Under Construction (see
2002 in music), included the singles "Work It", Elliott's biggest hit to date, and the successful duet with Ludacris, "Gossip Folks." In the latter, Elliott let her critics know what she thought of recent media rumors about her, including her rapid weight loss that had taken place during 2002 and her alleged affairs with Timbaland, Tweet, and
Trina. As the "Work It" video had done during 2002, "Gossip Folks" became one of the most-played music videos on
MTV,
MTV2,
MTV Jams, and
BET in 2003. Both videos were also incredibly successful relative to other rap videos on both
VH1 and
VH1 Soul, which tend to play
Hot AC videos and
R&B videos respectively. "Gossip Folks" received significantly less attention than "Work It" at urban radio, but was embraced by the
dance community, as well as the mainstream, due to a
Fatboy Slim remix. Although not released as single and with no video, "Pussycat", peaked at #77 on the
Hot 100. Interestingly, the song's title did cause considerable controversy so that
Billboard was forced to list the song in its charts as "P***ycat."
Under Construction also included a track called "
Back In The Day", a nostalgic ode to
old school hip hop music and
fashion that featured guest vocals from
Jay-Z and Tweet. A video was shot and an article on MTV.com was posted, but the video was never released.
Early 2003, Elliott produced the "American Dream Remix" (featuring Tweet's additional vocals) of
Madonna's single "American Life". In the summer of 2003, Elliott was the featured rapper on Timbaland & Magoo's long-awaited return single, "Cop That Disc"; the song was a modest hit at urban radio.
This Is Not a Test!
|
This Is Not a Test! (2003) |
Elliott's singles, "Pass That Dutch" and "I'm Really Hot", from her fifth album,
This Is Not A Test! (released
November 2003), both rose the urban charts. However, both were not as successful at pop radio in comparison to many of her previous efforts. Also in 2003, Elliott was featured on
Wyclef Jean's "Party To Damascus" and
Ghostface Killah's "Tush" singles, the latter of which became a minor 2004 dance hit, and had a pivotal role in the
motion picture Honey, starring
Jessica Alba.
The Gap approached Elliott later in the year to co-star in a commercial with Madonna, which received much media attention
GAP Advert. Elliott furthered her relationship with the Material Girl by performing the controversial 2003
MTV Video Music Awards show opening alongside Madonna,
Britney Spears and
Christina Aguilera.
In
2004, Elliott was featured on
Ciara's hit single "
1, 2 Step", with her verse
interpolating Teena Marie 's smash hit, "Square Biz". The two soon became close friends and rumors began to spread of a lesbian relationship between the duo and also between Elliot and
America's Next Top Model winner
Eva Pigford, which all denied.
The Cookbook
Her sixth solo album,
The Cookbook was released in
July 2005 and debuted at number two on the US charts. Its first single, "
Lose Control", which featured Ciara and
Fatman Scoop, became a Top 10 hit in the early summer (peaking at number three on the Billboard
Hot 100), and the other album tracks featured guest appearances from
Mike Jones,
Fantasia,
M.I.A,
Slick Rick,
Mary J. Blige, and
Pharrell Williams. The video for "Lose Control" garnered Elliott six 2005 MTV VMA award nominations, ultimately winning two awards in the categories Best Dance Video and Best Hip-Hop Video in August. After the VMA's, Elliott released "Teary Eyed" which never saw chart action although the video charted on MTV's
Total Request Live for a few weeks, and BET's
106 & Park for a few days.
In early September, Elliott tore her Achilles' tendon while shooting the music video for her song "We Run This", requiring surgery and a long recovery, thus dampening promotion efforts for
The Cookbook. In
November 2005, Elliott won Best Female Hip Hop Artist at the 2005 American Music Awards, defeating colleagues Lil' Kim and Trina. Also in November, Elliott's remixed version of
Ashlee Simpson's "L.O.V.E." (from her second album,
I Am Me) was included on the CD single.
Elliot premiered her own reality show on the
UPN Network,
The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott in mid-2005. Although the series never made impressive ratings, it did maintain a solid audience. The winner,
Jessica Betts, plans to release her album in February 2007.
Current work
In December 2005, Elliott was nominated for 5
Grammy Awards, including two for "Lose Control" (Best Short Form Video, which she won, and Best Rap Song), one for
The Cookbook (Best Rap Album), one for writing Fantasia's "Free Yourself" (Best R&B Song), and one for "1, 2 Step" with Ciara (Best Rap/Sung Collaboration). Elliott was also nominated for
Best International Female Artist at the 2006
Brit Awards.
In early
2006, Elliott's single and video for "We Run This" was released with heavy airplay on
VH1,
MTV, and
BET. It also will be featured on the soundtrack to the gymnastics-themed film
Stick It. Elliott has stated that she will be putting out a
greatest hits album with three new tracks. "We Run This" is set to be the lead single from the album, out two weeks prior to the album release on
August 21. In addition, Elliot won the the 2006
BET Award for best Female Hip-Hop Artist.
In mid-June,
Universal Pictures announced they had bought the life story of Missy Elliott and planned to bring it to the big screen. Producers include
Robert De Niro and
Jane Rosenthal, while the film is being written and directed by Diane Houston. It's currently unclear whether Elliott will be starring in the movie, with some media outlets publishing her as the star of the movie, no official word has been released. One thing that's made clear about the movie is that Timbaland won't be a part of it. When Missy asked him to be part of it, he refused because he thinks that it dramatises his character; "the movie is about her life, her story, that goes deeper then putting me into the movie". [
1]
* Her 2002 album
Under Construction is her best selling album to date; selling 2.1 million copies in the USA.
* "Work It" spent ten consecutive weeks at number two on the
Hot 100. The song is tied with
Foreigner's
1981 hit "Waiting For a Girl Like You" as the longest-running number two single that did not reach number one.
* Her fourth album
This Is Not a Test! was released in November of 2003 and debuted at number thirteen on The
Billboard 200 Chart selling 144,000 copies in its first week of release; the album has only sold 690,000 to date in the USA.
* In July of 2005 she released her sixth album
The Cookbook which debuted at number two on The Billboard 200, selling 176,000 copies in the first week of release. The Cookbook has currently sold 750,000 copies in the U.S. and 1.2 million worldwide.
* Elliott has hit number one on the US
Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart twice with
house music remixes of "Gossip Folks" (2003) and the Ghostface track "Push" (aka "Tush") (2004).
For more information about her singles, albums certifications, and music video, see
Missy Elliott discography*
List of number-one dance hits (United States)*
List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart*
Official Missy Elliott Website*
Missy Elliott Fansite — The leading source for fans.
*
Missy Elliott lyrics 
